1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates photoactive compounds for use in medical diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures.
2. Description of Related Art
Publications are referenced throughout the specification in parenthesis. Full citations corresponding to the cited references are listed following the detailed description.
Patients at risk for clotting- and/or bleeding-related adverse events tend to be monitored using aPTT (activated partial thromboplastin time) and PT (prothrombin time) blood tests (Bajaj et al and Kher et al). Generally, patients on heparin are closely monitored by frequent measurement of aPTT to indicate the degree to which the extrinsic coagulation cascade is activated. Patients on Coumadin® are monitored by frequent measurement of PT (Riley et al) to evaluate the contributions of the extrinsic pathways. Both tests require blood samples that are sent to the hospital laboratory for analysis. Turnaround times are generally lengthy enough that a patient's hemostasis can change significantly during the analysis period. As such, it would be beneficial to develop compounds for use in monitoring hemostasis that would shorten the turn-around time between testing and results.